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Jeff Kinney Facts

Jeff Kinney Facts
Jeff Kinney is an American children's author, actor, producer, cartoonist, and game designer, most famous for the book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He was born on February 19th, 1971 in Fort Washington, Maryland. Jeff Kinney decided he wanted to be a cartoonist while at the University of Maryland, but syndication is a difficult process and he started writing down ideas for his series Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Jeff worked on the series for roughly 6 to 8 years before showing it to a publisher. When the first book was published in 2007 it became a New York Times #1 bestseller.
Interesting Jeff Kinney Facts:
As a child Jeff Kinney liked to reach the work of children's authors Beverly Cleary, J.R.R. Tolkien, Judy Blume, and Piers Anthony.
Jeff Kinney attended the University of Maryland, where he discovered his love of cartooning.
While in University Jeff Kinney published his cartoon strip Igdoof in the school paper.
Jeff Kinney moved to New England from Washington in 1995.
Jeff Kinney introduced Diary of a Wimpy Kid online before it was ever published. Jeff published daily entries from 2004 until 2005 on Funbrain.
In 2006 Jeff Kinney signed a multiple-book deal with the publisher Harry N. Abrams, Inc., during New York Comic Con.
Jeff Kinney's first book in the series Diary of a Wimpy Kid was published in 2007. He followed this book with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2008), Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book (2008), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw (2009), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2009), The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary (2010) and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth (2010).
The books in the series Diary of a Wimpy Kid have sold more than 58 million copies around the world.
Jeff Kinney married Julie in 2003 and together they have two sons Grant, and Will.
Jeff Kinney's book Diary of a Wimpy Kid was made into a movie of the same name in 2010. His brother Scott wrote one of the songs for the movie.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules was also made into a movie, in 2011. This was followed by the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, released in 2012.
Jeff Kinney played the father of Heather Hills in the third movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days.
Time listed Jeff Kinney as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world in 2009.
Jeff Kinney was awarded the 2009 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award. This award is voted for by children, which shows his popularity in that age group.
In 2016 Jeff Kinney won the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award for Favorite Book.
Jeff Kinney and his wife Julie opened a book store in 2015 in Plainville, Massachusetts, which they named "An Unlikely Story".
Jeff Kinney created a children's website called Poptropica, which features events and characters from the book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Today Jeff Kinney is a full-time online game designer and writer.


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